It is common practice in a number of industries to move or feed a sheet or web of flaccid material along a path. This occurs in the textile and paper industries, as well as in various cleaning operations. It is known that particles of lint, dust, etc. are attracted to the sheet or web by static electricity, and there have been provided in the past various apparatus for cleaning sheets or webs by directing a stream of air, ionized or not, at the sheet or web, and then exhausting air from the vicinity of the sheet or web, there being entrained in the air which is exhausted from the sheet or web particles which have been loosened.
A previous sheet and web cleaner of the static neutralizing type has been produced in which a pair of air boost-type ion generating bars were placed in spaced, parallel relationship, within a housing, and the spacing between the ion generating bars defined a suction slot; the suction outlet was at the top of the housing, remote from the downwardly facing ion generating bars and suction slot, and thereby a relatively great distance was required between the path of the sheet or web and the suction outlet of the housing. Further, the construction and assembly of the ion generating bars was somewhat complex, in association with the housing or hood in which they were placed.
Among the prior art patents of interest to the present subject matter are Gardner U.S. Pat. No. 3,239,863, which discloses a web cleaning apparatus utilizing a pair of air blast nozzles extending transversely of the web, and having a suction area or nozzle between them. Also of note is Herbert, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,395,042, which utilizes an ion generator extending transversely over the web, a pair of brushes, and a suction nozzle located between the brushes. Bruno, U.S. Pat. No. 3,045,273 provides a throat construction in which a web of paper or the like is cleaned, the throat containing both a blowing nozzle and a suction nozzle in close proximity, there being one set of nozzles on top of the web and a second set on the bottom of the web. Dunn U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,061 discloses a record cleaning apparatus, for cleaning a disk sound record, in which a pair of ion generators are provided in a head, on either side of a suction slot, there being provided, outwardly of the ion generators, a pair of blower nozzles, transverse of the record, comprised of a row of blower holes or air outlets; the suction slot is connected by a cavity having inclined top surfaces lower at their outer ends and higher at their inner ends, leading to a central cavity portion connected by a conduit extending parallel to the plane of the sound disk record, and to a side suction outlet connection. In this construction, baffles are provided to give an even distribution of air.